Shift (Pilot)
by renaecantdance
Summary: Join 6 teens; Nadia (the bossy one), Mallory (the rebellious one), Sachin (the happy one), Jace (the fuckboy), Ashton (the stoner), and Faye (the optimist) in their attempts to find balance amongst their messed up, and complicated lives. All defined by their stereotypes and trying to break free of them. Which only gets more complicated when... well, you'll have to read it to find o


Only two hours into the party had it started to die down already. That never had stopped me before, and I wanted to have a good time.

"Ashton, can we go now?" Sachin asked. "You know this isn't my scene."

"Sach, why?" he asked. "I'm getting good vibes from this party. And, I haven't even done drugs yet."

"Is that even necessary?" Sachin asked.  
"Dude, of course," I replied. "You gotta… you should try some."

"Maybe," he replied.

"Pardon my French, dude," I started. "But you're so uptight that if I were to stick a lump of coal up your ass; it'd be a diamond in less than an hour."

"Isn't that a quote from Ferris Bueller?" Sachin asked.

"Dunno, probably," I replied. "Good movie."

I searched around the not-so-crowded room for something to do; when I spotted pizza. Pizza wasn't something I was gonna pass up on so I headed over to the table.

"Ashton, where are you going?" Sachin asked.

"There's pizza, dude," I replied.

"Don't eat too much, you'll get sick!" he called after me.

I shuffled over to the food table and shoved pizza into my mouth.

"Same," a girl chuckled, watching me stuff my face.

I recognized her from school but couldn't put a face to her name… wait no, a name to her face.

"Hey," I said. "I'm Ashton."

"Mallory," she replied, holding out her fist for me to bump.

"Sweet," I replied, bumping her fist. "Wanna see how many slices I can eat in a minute?"

"Sure, I don't have anything better to do," she agreed. "But let's make it interesting… a contest. Whoever eats the most; wins."

"Deal," I agreed.

"PIZZA EATING CONTEST!" a nearby eavesdropper announced to the party, and Sachin walked over to see what was going on.

"Well that's one way to get attention," Mallory muttered, and turned to me. "Okay, I'll set the timer and we both have to go."

"Alright, dudette," I said.

"3… 2… 1…!" she counted. "Go!"

"Go Ash!" I heard Sachin half-heartedly cheer.

I shoveled pizza into my mouth, trying to smoosh it all in without it coming back out again. Chewing was also really hard with so much pizza in my mouth. I got down the first slice at about forty-five seconds and glanced over at Mallory, who I think had just finished her second piece. I hurried onto my own second piece but time was up just as I got halfway.

"Damn dudette, you won," I congratulated her, and Sachin walked over to join me.

"You know it," she smiled. "You fought hard though, nice try."

"Man, my stomach hurts," I groaned.

"I told you so," Sachin replied.

"Mallory!" a girl screeched. "What on Earth are you doing?"  
"A pizza eating contest," she replied, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

"Mal, I told you the pizza is for the guests; not you," she complained. "You already had pizza."

"So?" Mallory retorted. "I was hungry."

"I cannot deal with you," the girl replied.

"Hey Sachin, I think I just saw a girl who might be more uptight than you," I told him.

"Hey girl, calm down," Sachin told her, suddenly not uptight. "It's a party, you just need to relax."

"Says you, Sachin," I teased him.

"I'm Nadia," she smiled.

"Sachin," he replied.

Mallory got bored of their small talk and I watched as she attempted to challenge people to a chugging contest with vodka. One guy stepped up to the challenge; he was one of the really popular dudes. I looked on as she tried to chug as much vodka as she could. And dude, could they both chug, but even still I think Mallory beat him too. I turned my attention back to Nadia and Sachin, who were chatting away, meaning that I could scout for a good buzz without him nagging me. The night dragged on as people gradually left, until there were only a handful of us left. About six of us. So, the six of us continued to party despite everyone else having left. They were chill people and I could totally see us hanging at school and shit. Sachin, Faye, Jace, Nadia and Mallory; all of them totally different from each other but the vibes with them were sweet as. Jace and Faye were slow-dancing to EDM music; Sachin and Nadia were still talking and attempting to dance; leaving Mallory and I to dance around like idiots. Though soon, everyone grew tired and ended up on the couch or the floor.

"You know dudes, I have a confession," I said, lying on a bed of pizza and occasionally grabbing a slice.

"Yeah, and what's that," Nadia asked.

"I could totally see us all hanging on Monday at school," I confessed.  
"Yeah, definitely," Faye agreed, smiling. "You all seem like great people."

"Okay, if we're sharing confessions," Jace started. "Mallory, I have to be honest…"

"Ramirez, right?" she asked and he nodded. "Okay, what's up?"

"I used to have the biggest crush on you in like, seventh grade," he admitted, chuckling to himself.

"Seriously?" she laughed. "That's hilarious, braces and all. And, ugh my haircut."

"So we're legitimately confessing things?" Nadia asked, and everyone seemed to nod at that. "Okay, so I think we should add some base rules."

"Nads, let the confessions be," Mallory interjected. "We're all drunk and high as fuck anyway; not like we're gonna remember that much."

"Okay, I have a special talent," Nadia laughed.

"Wait is it the…?" Mallory asked, and Nadia giggled.

"I can lick my elbow," she said, triumphantly and demonstrated for us.

"I can skate," I said, proudly.

"I can write with both hands," Sachin offered.

"I can… oh I can use those devil stick things that they do in circuses," Mallory said.

"I can roll my tongue," Jace said.

"Everyone can do that," Mallory rolled her eyes.

"I can't," I admitted.

"Then… I can moonwalk," Jace retried.

"No way, now you gotta show us," Mallory laughed.

And so he did. He got up from his seat next to Faye and slid his feet along the floor; and sure enough it was the moon walk.

"Faye?" Nadia asked, after Jace sat back down again. "You okay? You haven't spoken in a while."

"Yeah, babe," Jace agreed. "What's up?"

"Sorry, it's not like me to be like this," she said. "It's just… I don't know… my parents…"

"Are they gonna split?" Mallory asked.

"I don't know, to be honest," Faye replied. "They're arguing so much and it's just getting overbearing. I was just thinking that I was enjoying myself here and I would have to go home to that."

"It's okay, dudette," I piped up. "I live in a foster home, and grew up in an orphanage because mine split when I was young and weren't okay enough to take care of me."

"Mom died of cancer when I was really young, so it's just me, my siblings and my Dad," Mallory added.

"I think… I don't know I think that I'm different in a way that I'm not sure of yet," Sachin announced. "Like there's a part of me that I'm uncertain of but I can't figure it out. I've never liked anyone that's stunning and should be my type; what if there's something wrong with me?"

"There's not," Mallory told him. "Sexuality is weird, you could be asexual."

"Dude, I can't get by without a good buzz half the time," I told them. "Life is shit sometimes."

"I totally get that," Mallory agreed. "The life is shit part, not the drugs part. Though, I do like me some good marijuana or even just plain old cigarettes."

"Which are not going to benefit you, need I remind you," Nadia scolded.

"But I'm scared that if something bad happens I'll become an addict or something," I said.

"You already are an addict, Ash," Sachin told me.

"I am not," I replied. "I just like the feeling of being happy."

"You sure you're not depressed or something?" Nadia asked. "Because that sounds like something they would say."

"On Tumblr, maybe," Mallory rolled her eyes and turned to me. "Get high if it helps you pass high school, but make sure that it's not impacting your health."

"I mean, I need music to cope with half the shit that goes on," Sachiin said. "I mean my life isn't all that hard, but I still need music."

"I so agree," Mallory piped up. "What genre are you into?"

"Mostly acoustics because that's what I sing," he said. "You?"

"Nineties rock, really," Mallory told him. "I don't know, I enjoy the grunge movement in music."

"Wait, you can sing?!" Jace asked, shocked.

"Yeah, I guess," Sachin replied.

"That's a lie, you can totally sing dude," I corrected him. "Y'all should hear him."

"What genre are you all into?" Nadia asked. "I like whatever's on the top charts, really."

"Same," Faye agreed. "But, to be honest, I don't mind."

"I think I like hip hop, dudes," I said.

"Ash is obsessed with Blackbear," Sachin added for me.

"Dude, really?" Jace asked, giving me a fist bump. "His music is sick."

"Okay, I have this theory," Faye started, changing the topic. "That happiness is always compromised by something, so no matter how many happy feelings you get; it's always counteracted by an equal amount of bad ones. Like Newton's third law."

"I'm a hardcore atheist but I believe in karma," Mallory admitted. "I mean, it mostly explains why my life is shit."

"No but I understand that," Faye agreed. "I really like the idea of karma."

"I'm Muslim and I believe in that too," Nadia agreed too.

"I'm Hindu but I don't think that reincarnation is real," Sachin revealed.

"I don't know, I think I'm Christian," Jace said. "I just don't know what's real and what's fake."

"That's fair," Sachin agreed. "With the amount of fake news that goes around; it's hard to know what's real even nowadays. Let alone in biblical times."

"Wait, Mal…" Nadia started. "Who was that guy you were making out with earlier?"

"Shit, didn't realize you saw that," Mal blurted. "But that's Cassidy, the guy I've been telling you about."

"Oh that's him, okay," Nadia realized. "I've just heard some weird things about him."

"Yeah, he's on the soccer team and he's a douche," Jace confirmed. "Just be careful, I guess."

"I'll be fine, chill out, you two," Mallory rolled her eyes.

"What if my whole life is just like The Truman Show?" I asked.

"You ask this question every single time you're drunk and high combined," Sachin complained, face-palming. "If your life was really like The Truman Show, they probably wouldn't let you see the movie because then you'd find out."

"That's what they want you to think," I replied.

"I think you've had enough to smoke, Ashton," Mallory said, stealing my joint and smoking it herself.

"Hey!" I complained, looking at Sachin to back me up.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I'm with her on this."

"Sometimes I think I'm adopted," Jace said. "I don't act like any of my siblings or my parents."

"Don't even worry about it. Mallory once convinced her little brother that he was going to get his period for a solid six months," Nadia told us.

"Wait, is that true?!" Sachin asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," she laughed.

"That's cruel but genius," Jace complimented her.

"Thanks," she chuckled.

"I kind of wonder if love exists," Sachin said, randomly. "Maybe because I've never felt it."

"I don't think it exists," Mallory revealed. "Romantic love, that is. I think family and friendship love exists."

"I disagree," Nadia said. "I just think you need to find the right person."

"Same," Faye smiled at Nadia. "I think that love at first sight is real too. Like you know who you'll fall in love with upon first glance."

"Is that what you thought of me?" Jace asked her.

"Maybe," she blushed, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Does everyone want to stay the night?" Nadia asked. "I mean, I'm super tired and I can't imagine anyone would be able to go home in the state they're in."

"Yeah I was gonna stay the night anyway," Mallory said, moving closer to my mountain of pizza and grabbing a slice.

"Sounds good, dude," I said, starting to re-arrange the full and empty pizza boxes into a bed.

"Ashton, what are you doing?" Sachin asked.

"If we're gonna sleep here I might as well have the bed of my dreams," I replied.

"Can't argue with that logic," Jace agreed.

"Well, I'll just sleep on the sofa if that okay?" Sachin asked Nadia.

"Yeah sure, you'll have to share with me though," she smiled.

"That's okay," he replied, making himself comfy on the couch.

"Jace, you gonna share the couch with me?" Faye asked, sweetly.

"Hang on, I just got one last thing I want to do," he said, grabbing a nearby egg carton.

"You want to make an omelet?" Faye asked, confused.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Jace screamed and pelted an egg at Mallory.

She death glared him and picked up another egg carton nearby.

"Oh, it's on," she grinned and pelted an egg at him, and hitting his balls.

"Ouch," Sachin cringed.

Jace fell to the floor groaning, and even I flinched at his pain. The girls found it entertaining though. Mallory sprinkled flour and pelted a few more eggs at him.

"You know what, never mind," he said. "I think I'll just sleep."

"And that is why you don't challenge me," she snickered and headed back to where she was originally sleeping.

I'm pretty sure that there was no more talking after that, but I couldn't be sure because my eyes drooped closed; forcing me into a deep sleep.


End file.
